That is it from me. Plenty more live action across Guardian Sport today with two more Premier League games to come, the French Open and the last day of the Premiership season.
Updated
Nick Ames was at the Emirates. Here is his match report:
Bukayo Saka seems like a pleasant young man. Being interviewed on Sky he is asked if he will celebrate his first Premier League goal at the Emirates, he says with a smile: “Well I have to be up early for England duty tomorrow.” Worse problems to have.
Updated
Full-time: Arsenal 2-1 Sheffield United
A seventh Premier League defeat in a row for the Blades as Arsenal just had the moments of quality in the second half.
90+4 min Chance for McGoldrick! The ball falls to the striker with an angle for the shot but Maitland-Niles is able to deflect the lashed shot wide.
90+3 min Up comes Ramsdale for the long throw. Seconds left...
Updated
90+2 min It is getting desperate for United now. Lundstram blazes well over from 25 yards.
90 min We are going to have four added minutes.
89 min Aubameyang slips in Bellerin with a ball around the corner but the Spaniard’s cross is a poor and Arsenal have to retreat. A more cynical team might have headed for the corner flag there.
87 min With Arsenal sitting deep now, on comes Ainsley Maitland-Niles for Saka.
Arsenal 2-1 Sheffield United (McGoldrick, 84)
Game on! The Blades have been more positive since bringing on Sharp but this goal was all about David McGoldrick. Weaving through a challenge and shifting the ball on to his left, the forward curls a low effort past Leno from 18 yards. That really changes things in the last five minutes.
Updated
81 min Dani Ceballos’ day is done, on comes Granit Xhaka to reinforce the midfield.
78 min A stinging effort from McBurnie requires Leno to get down quickly but it was straight at the Arsenal keeper. That was the Blades’ first shot on target. Says it all.
76 min Chris Basham comes off as Chris Wilder makes his intentions clear by introducing Billy Sharp.
73 min With United having to press there is more space for Arsenal now when they come forward. The Gunners springing a quick counter seems like the most likely to route to the next goal.
69 min Suddenly, with those two quick goals, Arsenal look at ease. Ceballos is doing nutmegs and the ball is popping around midfield with much more zip.
Goal! Arsenal 2-0 Sheffield United (Pepe, 64)
Insert buses cliché. Pepe makes Arteta look very smart with a dynamic burst of pace from the left into the Blades’ box before opening up his body and placing a shot in off the far post. Given what the visitors have shown so far that might well be enough to win it.
Updated
Goal! Arsenal 1-0 Sheffield United (Saka, 60)
Arsenal lead! That is a very calm finish from Bukayo Saka as he rounds off an excellent move by nodding home at the pack post. A couple of crisp one-twos and Bellerin stands the ball up to the back post for Saka to nod home.
Updated
57 min Changes for both sides. Oliver Burke makes way for Ollie McBurnie whilst Nketiah is withdrawn for Nicolas Pepe (and Aubameyang to go through the middle).
Updated
53 min As if to prove my point Aubameyang drifts inside and almost connects with a clever, first time ball from Ceballos. He was offside but did not know that as he slid in towards the penalty spot.
Updated
49 min Feel free to disagree, but as an opposing fan I would be so much happier seeing Aubameyang lining up on the left as opposed to through the middle. To me it feels like having a Ferrari but sticking resolutely to the slow lane.
Second half kicks off
Let us hope for a better second 45.
You know a game is a bit bleak when half-time discussion is on a couple of marginal refereeing decisions. I doubt anyone apart from the professionally infuriated Graeme Souness is that genuinely angry about the Luiz shirt pull or the Berge lunge.
How lucky has David Luiz been, too? pic.twitter.com/3ML3vgNpBO
— Pain In The Arsenal (at 🏡) (@PainInThArsenal) October 4, 2020
VAR didn’t even bother pic.twitter.com/zuDBXRbnpf
— JB™️ (@gunnerpunner) October 4, 2020
Stephen Carr (probably not that one) emails in:
‘For all the improvements Arteta has made at Arsenal, they are a bit deficient ideas-wise.....’
It is clear to see why Arsenal are chasing another midfielder to add creativity. I would argue today that Elneny’s skills are not really needed either.
Email from Kári Tulinius:
‘I’ve been watching a lot of Ligue 1 this autumn, where they have been letting in crowds of a few thousand. It makes for a much better experience, the crowd-less Premier League feels anaemic by comparison. Even a small crowd is miles better than no crowd or, shudder, a fake crowd. Hopefully soon fans can start attending games in the UK.’
It could be a while for that, I think.
In the Women’s Super League, Arsenal Women are also all-square at the break against Bristol City but there has been some goals at Boreham Wood. Abi Harrison put the visitors ahead but Jordan Nobbs levelled things up the in 42nd minute.
Half-time: Arsenal 0-0 Sheffield United
Arteta needs to inject some energy into his side at the break. Chris Wilder will be happy with the dogged nature the Blades’ first half performance, they have hardly been troubled.
43 min Nearly a flash of magic from Aubameyang as he attempts an overhead kick, but it comes off his shin and is easy for Ramsdale.
39 min Concern here for Arsenal as Berge’s lunging challenge catches Aubameyang on the ankle. The Norwegian is booked and Aubameyang is back on his feet after some treatment.
37 min Big save from Ramsdale! Finally a decent attempt on goal as Ramsdale gifts Ceballos the ball with a poor clearance, he feeds Aubameyang whose effort from 25 yards needed the keeper’s fingertips to turn it over the bar.
35 min Burke sneaks in behind to reach a low ball into the left channel, there is no one to aim at but he gets his side up the field. From the resulting long throw in the ball comes back out and is hoisted into the box but Egan clatters into Leno and the attack dies a death.
33 min The Blades are doing a great job of getting back in numbers when Arsenal come forward. It is a solid back five with at least nine men behind the ball.
29 min Does that count as a chance? Cross in from the left and Nketiah heads it goalwards. The xG cannot have been high, a back pass for Ramsdale.
Updated
28 min So far this best described as a stalemate.
22 min This just about sums it up: Arsenal 70% possession but no shots from either side.
19 min Lots of probing and pressing but not a lot of action so far. Someone needs to tell this lot that nothing less than a goal glut is expected in the Premier League this season.
15 min Willian, who has barely touched the ball so far, swaps passes with Bellerin deep in their own half to spring a quick counter but Basham gets over to slide in on Saka and end the move.
12 min Ceballos sweeps forward, taking two or three Sheffield United players out the picture but the move breaks down on the edge of the Blades’ box as Bellerin and Aubameyang try to work a tight passing move.
11 min Both sides just feeling each other. The Blades seem happy to let Arsenal have the ball in front of them and play it about.
9 min Sako tiptoes forward and is clipped by Lundstram on the let hand side to win Arsenal a free-kick in a handy position. It is played short and comes to nothing.
6 min Untidy defending again from the home side as they have to be bailed out by the offside flag when they cannot clear a corner.
4 min Almost a vintage David Luiz howler! Under no pressure the defender’s lets the ball run across him with Burke breathing down his neck. Only alert sweeping up from Leno saved David Luiz there. And was there a pull back?
Updated
2 min Eddie Nketiah gets his first sight at goal after a wonderful outside-of-the-boot pass from Aubameyang but the youngster’s touch lets him down. The ball ran across him in the end but that was very easy for Arsenal.
Kick-off!
We are underway at the Emirates.
A few minutes until kick-off, the teams are out on the pitch. Smart track tops for the Arsenal players confirm that summer is officially over the Premier League.
Here’s Nick Ames’s match preview:
One of Arsenal’s repeated failures last season was in neglecting to put away supposedly inferior opponents once their noses were in front. Sheffield United’s last visit to the Emirates, in January, was a case in point; John Fleck scored a just-about-deserved leveller and the hosts’ problems loomed large. They look better now but Mikel Arteta believes Sunday’s opponents have “deserved much more” than three straight defeats. With both squads in a state of suspended animation before the transfer deadline, it could be a cagey afternoon.
No Brewster? Sheffield United have confirmed that their new striker was not registered in time for today’s game.
The teams
Arsenal XI: Leno; Gabriel, David Luiz, Tierney; Bellerin, Ceballos, Elneny, Saka; Willian, Nketiah, Aubameyang
Subs: Runarsson, Holding, Maitland-Niles, Willock, Xhaka, Pepe, Lacazette
Sheffield United XI: Ramsdale; Basham, Egan, Robinson; Baldock, Lundstram, Berge, Osborn, Stevens; McGoldrick, Burke
Subs: Foderingham, Fleck, McBurnie, Sharp, Lowe, Ampadu, Norwood
Preamble
No wins in the opening three fixtures for Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United continues their struggles at the end of last season so the trip to a resurgent Arsenal will not provide much relief.
One of the pre-match questions will be whether Rhian Brewster, who arrived from Liverpool for £23.5m earlier this week, goes straight into the side. The Blades are yet to score so a big-money striker could be just the ticket.
Bukayo Saka got his first England call this week and will hope to impress again ahead of the international break. It will be a marker of the progress made under Mikel Arteta whether his team can brush aside supposed lesser rivals, with the Blades having battled for a draw when they last met at the Emirates in January.
Updated
